They say you can't really judge a game before playing it for yourself. There is certainly some truth to that saying, but there are some games that you know, without a shadow, will be mind blowingly awesome. For many a gamer, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was such a game.
Ultimate was a highly anticipated title long before it released on December 7, 2018. Sure, people were excited with the teasing of the game at the end of the March 2018 Nintendo Direct, but it was Nintendo's E3 2018 Direct that really got the hype train going. Masahiro Sakurai presented us with a video that showed off the fighters that would be returning for the new Smash. The entire 25 minute video could be summed up in three words:
Everyone is HERE! If you could pinpoint a specific time when the entire Smash fanbase was overflowing with joy, those three words gracing the screen with Solid Snake would be it. Every single character that has ever been in a Smash game would be in Ultimate. Pichu, Young Link, Wolf, Ice Climbers, Mega Man. Everyone. That right there is truth in advertising and was the game's tagline.
A large part of Ultimate's appeal is the roster. On launch day, Ultimate came packed with over 70 characters right out of the box. I have my mains such as Mega Man, Terry and Toon Link but with a cast this huge, I feel like I'd be doing myself a major disservice if I didn't use other characters. King K. Rool is a character I didn't want in Smash but he was among the earliest that I unlocked and he's an insane amount of fun to use. You couldn't pay me to play as Peach but I'm all about Daisy and I'm not even bothered that she's an Echo Fighter. When I feel like mixing some Street Fighter with my Smash, I pick Ryu or Ken. Not even Little Mac's terrible off stage game can prevent me from having fun using him from time to time. The wealth of fighters in this game ensures that are are a couple dozen characters for anyone of any play style to gravitate to.
I never realized how awesome different rule sets could be until we were allowed to save tons of different ones in Ultimate. Like, I'm one of those weirdos who has always loved to play on time rather than stocks. In the original Super Smash Bros. my friends and I would always see who could get the most KOs in 10 minutes. Since 1999, time has been my proffered way to play. This changed a bit when the 3DS and Wii U versions of Smash released and I became more accustomed to switching up to stock games every now and then. With Ultimate letting us save a myriad of different rule sets, I've got so many ways to play. Sometimes I do quick games of four stocks, and sometimes I'll do stamina with two stocks to make it play more like a regular fighting game. I even have one rule set called "Stuff Blowing Up," which consists of nothing but bomb items. When I'm craving something truly chaotic, I'll play on my "Chaos!" rule set, which has items set to a high spawning rate. Seriously, having a variety of different rules is an excellent way to spice up your Smash games. If a filthy, item-loving casual like me can play on stocks with items off, I think even those in the competitive crowd can turn on some items and have a free for all from time to time.
Ultimate also boasts a very lengthy single player mode in the form of World of Light. As much as I enjoyed Subspace in Brawl, I've never felt the desire to replay that mode again.Yes, the cut scenes were epic but the Great Maze was Ocarina of Time Water Temple levels of frustrating. If some Spirit are giving you a tough time, you can come back when you're better equipped and have a better chance at winning or just steamroll the opposition. With multiple paths to take and many fights being optional, there's a great degree of flexibility for players. Some players such as Nairo and ZeRo have done self-imposed challenges and went through World of Light without using Spirits, which has made for some hilarious streams and YouTube highlights. Recently, we've seen Nuzlocke runs on World of Light from various Smash players on YouTube. For those not in the know, this means that when you lose a fight with that character, they are gone for good. Think of it as a self imposed permadeath system in place. I'm almost tempted to try a Nuzlocke run.
Don't even get me started on the amount of stages you can battle on in Ultimate. Without taking into account the Battlefield and Omega forms you do to every stage, there are over 100 stages to choose from. Sometimes you may not even be sure what stage to choose from. If music determines where you battle but you aren't crazy about the stage, you can turn stage into the aforementioned Battlefield or Omega form. Want the stage to be normal without hazards? You can battle that way too. Ultimate is not a game that is starved for stages, whether you play casually or competitively.
Spirits in general are just all kinds of fun to use. I never even used the Stickers that Brawl had but I engage in Spirit battles on the regular in Ultimate. I have so many Spirit teams formed that I kinda think 99 teams isn't enough as I think I'm dangerously close to hitting the limit. Finding ways to make your fighters stupidly broken is some of the most fun I've had playing video games. As I was working on this, I came across Lizard Leliel's YouTube channel and he has a ton of videos demonstrating how insanely powerful some fighters can be with the right Spirits equipped. It can make getting some extra Spirits on the Spirit Board a whole lot easier. Lizard helped me discover the joy that is OP Ridley and I gotta say, hyper buffed Down B is too good.
On top of having a ton of stages, the biggest roster of any fighting game and an engaging single player mode as well as multiplayer modes out the wahzoo, Ultimate has a soundtrack that is so grandiose that it should be considered cheating to even bring it up when discussing the best game soundtracks. What other game can you play that has the CPS I & II versions of Street Fighter II's iconic soundtrack, 50 SNK tracks of original and new remixed tracks, Mega Man music, Sonic music, Super Mario music, Fire Emblem music, Castlevania tunes, Banjo-Kazooie themes and a whole lot more? Before the DLC fighters came, there was over 900 music tracks. Now there are more than 1000. Ultimate is worth having for the soundtrack alone. The crazy thing is, there is sooooo much more to come.
A few months ago, a co-worker asked me what character I would like to have in Ultimate. I thought it over for a bit before responding that I had no idea. With previous Smash entries, I could come up desirable picks no problem. Ultimate has such an insanely huge, diverse roster that I really can't think of any characters I'd like to see add, even when it comes to the future DLC characters. Heck, I'm happy to have Shovel Knight and Sukapon as Assist Trophies, blasphemous as that may sound. I really can't be upset that this or that character isn't playable because we already have so dang much in Ultimate. Sakurai and his team have and continue to work so hard to make Ultimate live up to the name it was given and I cannot thank them enough for that. I'm dead serious when I say that we do not need another Smash game for a very long time. Ultimate truly is the definitive Super Smash game and I'm excited for whatever else the game has in store for us.
